Title: War WoundsPairing/Characters: SeeleyRating: PG13Spoilers: Two Bodies in the LabSummary: Prompt - PurpleNotes/Warnings: Read the disclaimer on my LJ

'You know on your x-rays, there's a history of multiple fractures on your feet consistent with beating. It's a common method of torture in the Middle East, beating the soles of the feet with pipes or hoses.'

Voices echo inside his head, ricochets of memories recent and far away, soft words in English percussed by shouts in Arabic.

'And there are indications of injuries sustained while you were shielding someone.'

The rat-a-tat-tat of automatic gunfire jolts him and he tosses and turns in his drug-induced slumber: no rest for the weary while the wicked lie locked in dank cells tonight.

A replay of the explosion that put him in the hospital shakes him and the movement aggravates his fractured clavicle, waking him with a hiss of pain under his breath.

It's 5AM.

Temperance is safe at home, the guilty parties have been caught and the case is closed. He should be able to rest.

But ghosts of wars past flit behind his eyes when he closes them so instead he turns his head to the window and waits for the coming dawn and the wakefulness it brings.

His x-rays show signs of injury and torture, but not all damage shows up on film.

Seeley Booth's got scars, a purple heart that says he's a hero and nightmares that remind him he's only human.

You know I was afraid this episode had been ficced out by now (I'm in the midst of a S1 rewatch), but I figured it's been long enough I could get away with it. /grins/ I'm glad you enjoyed it! Booth definitely needs more hugs. (I like when he gets them from Parker personally.) :-)

Thanks! I fell off the Bones wagon myself, not long after the Zack debacle, so I'm not up to date myself. We've been rewatching S1 and I kind of liked the idea of poking more into this soft spot in Booth's past.

What's NaNoWriMo? And I'm glad u have peer support to get u back on track with Bones. The good news is, u won't have to wait thru hiatuses & 7 day spans to get new eps. Numb3rs huh? Maybe I should check that out. & ur most welcome :).

NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month: where people write an entire 50K word book in 30 days each November. Yes, it sounds insane, but it's a lot of fun and you'd be surprised how many people can make 50K words show up in 30 days. :-) I've done it for years but only 'won' (hit 50K) twice so far.

Numb3rs is a nice companion to Bones. The scientists are more mathematicians, physicists and computer scientists, but that means less gore. /grins/ The FBI agents are a team, but the show centers around two brothers - one the FBI team leader and the other a world class math genius professor.

Try the pilot and the second episode, Uncertainty Principle, at least. If you like them be warned UP is the best episode ever, but the series is still a good one.